Details

Date Published

Date Built

Description

=== 02/04/18 ===

Wow... Thank you PCPP so much for the feature! I feel honored and truly appreciate it. Thank you.

I will update some of the description soon. It was a very busy weekend.

This little computer was fun to work on. Costs were under a hundred dollars ($67) to assemble this as a mini-desktop. It's a perfect solution for those who use a desktop computer for the very basic needs, but cannot afford much right now. Even if someone needed peripherals, a cheap monitor and a USB media card reader it keeps the costs under $200. It can also be something really fun to work on since there are many possibilities to do with a Raspberry Pi!

An OS to get started with a desktop environment would be Raspbian. It offers the user to surf the internet or watching videos (Chromium), office applications (Office Libre), basic programming like Python, Java and much more. It also provides some python games and even Minecraft Pi Edition.

Originally I was going to experiment this in my Spring Semester, but there weren't enough classmates that were interested to work on a Raspberry Pi. So at the meantime, I'll work on this cute little computer for fun when time is available.

Wattage Estimates

Now onto the two cents:

Motherboard

Raspberry Pi 3 Model B Motherboard

Redundant on my end, it's very cute and fun to work on. This little guy already comes together with a CPU, GPU, RAM with a variety of ports and connections. This particular Model B motherboard comes with a built-in WiFi and Bluetooth which is pretty sweet. Only an HDMI and though the resolution of 1920x1080 is available, it doesn't work. So stick with the default screen resolution or something close to 720p. It's also great this little motherboard comes with four 2.0 USBs and an Ethernet port.

Storage (MicroSD)

Samsung 32GB MicroSD EVO with Adapter

This was cheap and offers plenty of storage. I cannot complain for spending $12 here and it was truly a breeze burning the OS image with Etcher into the MicroSD, but with my 3.0 USB Media Card Reader of course! If you need to save a few extra dollars than 16GB is workable too, but I think 32GB or 64GB is best to aim for. About 23.7GB remains available after burning Raspbian into the MicroSD.

Case

Smraza case for Raspberry Pi 3 (Black & White)

Wow, did I feel like a dumbfounded fool here the most. It took me sometime to remember and reconfigure this 9 layer case back together. Not a problem disassembling, but when I did it the other way around... oh my goodness! Third-time was the charm to get it right. I left some photos on here to give an idea of what the order is when reassembling the case with the motherboard.

However, I do like the case fan because I cannot a hear thing. I set my case fan to 3.3v format, but I also have a photo to show what 5.0v is too in case others may want more air blowing into the case. I will test the temps later on.

And about the power supply, it's nice to have a switch that turns ON and OFF. Though sometimes my Raspberry Pi 3 doesn't fully shutdown either so I end up having to use the switch to turn it off. I prefer a full shutdown so I'll need to figure out what's going on. Regardless, it's pretty handy and a nice feature to have.

I do love the appearance of this case. I would work with it again if someone else needed a basic desktop computer for under $100.

Personal Notes

I am easily entertained by what the Raspberry Pi 3 can do. The options of what you can do with them is cool I think. The monitor and peripherals do work with no issues, just make sure to change the keyboard layout, and language in general if you are from a different country.

I normally talk about my additional items, peripherals or other parts, but I'll be brief here: The 10" monitor, and this Logitech keyboard and mouse were plug and play ready for a Raspberry Pi 3. Very happy they work and will yak about the monitor and peripherals in the future. My part list should have hyperlinks for these and the other items listed here.

Thank you for reading my description. Please feel free to leave any comments, questions, and constructive criticism. I’ll correct any mistakes, typos, or if I've forgotten to mention something.

[ Something about this build reminds me of a guy who pulls up in luxury sports car and tries to impress an attractive woman. She rolls her eyes and murmurs, "Whatever...," then turns to her humble but sensible husband and says, "I'm sticking with you!" ]

Thank you for the kind words as I truly appreciate it. And I'm glad to know this puts a smile on someone.

[ Something about this build reminds me of a guy who pulls up in luxury sports car and tries to impress an attractive woman. She rolls her eyes and murmurs, "Whatever...," then turns to her humble but sensible husband and says, "I'm sticking with you!" ]

Wow, sounds like he is that nervous. I understand about the S7 Note, but for the wood not sure what there is to deeply fear about. It may be hold more heat, but if you form it in a way where air can come in and out then you'd be all set. I don't think I known anyone either who does that charging their tech in a sink. Very interesting and thanks for explaining about it further.

True since you mentioned it. Though it's too bad he thinks an S7 Note dubs technology to catch fire right away. I know it can happen to anyone, which is why I take precautions too just not to an extent of being fearful when trying things out.

I went with the same case but mine is all black acrylic. RetroPie was a small pain for me to get working, but it is super fun to play all my old games from the 80's and 90's. It even runs some PS1 games competently. Glad to see on on here. :P

Awesome. And despite the struggle with RetroPie, it's excactly why I want some of the classic games on it. I grew up with certain games when I was a kid and yes I still have orginal consoles like Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, PlayStation (the 1st version) etc. Though no longer my other Nintendo (Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt) since was given to my childhood friend. They all still work too.

Anyways, glad you liked this and great to know about RetroPie. Thank you so much!

question from somebody who has a raspberry pi but doesn't know what to do with it...could it possibly run GBA games? If so, hooking it up to a decent battery bank, portable screen, and decent plastic shell could make it a fun DIY handheld game machine.

It can run GBA games, the pi 3 runs everything up to about playstation 1...and the DIY handheld idea has been done really well already, you can buy pre-made or DIY kits too, raspberry pi' are extremely versatile.

Thanks Battlestar! And thanks for the support. I always appreciate it. (You mention not a full system because it cannot handle a full OS and hardware is already built into the the motherboard which has its limitations due to the processor, RAM, GPU, etc is soldered? I know it's not Intel nor AMD hardware.) Regardless, this computer is able to do some basic tasks and it's quite fun to work on with many possibilities besides a bare bone desktop environment.

I've been looking for a case that has a fan and this looks perfect! I've got the Raspberry Pi 2. I was thinking about putting my Pi to work as some sort of server or maybe just overclocking my Pi and seeing how far it'll go. :P Active cooling isn't strictly necessary for the Pi 2, but it'd definitely help to eke out a bit more performance. The Pi 3, I've heard, is a bit of a different story.

Thankfully the case is compatible for Raspberry Pi 2 and Pi 3. And you are correct, I read some articles stating that the Pi 3 can reach as high as 80° C without heatsinks and a fan which this throttles it. Seems like the Pi 3 can reduce around 10° C. And I'm not sure how much a Pi 3 can overclock quite yet, but seems like around 1.3GHz with heatsinks and a case fan.

32GB which about 23.7GB remains. There is also 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB MicroSD cards if are in need of more capacity; however, the 128GB and 256GB can get pricey depending on the seller. It's safe to get a 32GB or 64GB microSD for the basic uses in desktop environment and even RetroPie. I see it boot and load the OS about 3-5 seconds.

It is certainly a tiny powerful computer. Unfortunately, it will not run a full version of Windows 10. It can run a Windows 10 loT Core which is ideal for servers or temperature sensor.

Another OS option, besides NOOBS or Raspbian, is Ubuntu MATE or Ubuntu Core. RetroPie which you can certainly play some classic games from past consoles like Atari, GameGear, GameBoy, Nintendo, Super Nintendo and much more! Make sure you have the original games first (due to copyright, though this can vary yet ethically should have a physical cartridge of the game.)

There are many possibilities to do with a Raspberry Pi, it just all depends on what your purpose is for your Pi. Realistically it's not Intel and AMD hardware, but it's a very fun project, it's easy to build and it is affordable. And sometimes troubleshooting comes along the way yet it's rewarding and worth it once you got it working.

I did not realize a Pi could run an MATE desktop, albeit a customized one... Then again, I've only got an a original Model B, so I'm mostly stuck with stuff like Arch Linux ARM for maximum performance.

Think a Pi3 is worth an upgrade? It is far faster than the original...

Is that Raspberry Pi 2's first version or their 1.2v? I'm assuming the first as you said earlier.

First version: Broadcom BCM2836 32-Bit Quad Core Processor @ 900 MHz

Version 1.2: Broadcom BCM2837 64-Bit Quad Core Processor @ 900 MHz

It may only depend if you prefer something more CPU and RAM performance with some additional features which can expand more possibilities of what you intend to do with the Pi 3. I do admit its nice to have WiFi and Bluetooth along more USB ports. Though keep in mind the Pi 3 can get more warm then its predecessors which is why I wanted heatsinks and a fan. Since the power supply is 2.5A to power the Pi 3 without it crashing with the Power Supply 1.8A.

Basically it really depends if you would like to expand to something more with different Operating Systems and many other projects is all I can say.